


Fixing the Leak

by NantucketCat



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hiding Medical Issues, Hurt/Comfort, Infection, Painkillers, Sickfic, Sleepiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 02:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NantucketCat/pseuds/NantucketCat
Summary: Jughead has a cold that turns into a nasty ear infection. Archie and Fred take care of him. Typical fluffy sickfic.





	Fixing the Leak

**Author's Note:**

> So there's some backstory to the creation of this fic. I sent a prompt to the tumblr user sicklylittlesnowflake, which became this fantastic story: http://sicklylittlesnowflake.tumblr.com/post/160922000029/real-talk-id-love-to-read-a-story-where-jughead I then wrote this story as a kind of sequel to that one. This story is written to work fine as a standalone thing, but I definitely recommend reading sicklylittlesnowflake's story first; it adds so much to it.
> 
> Also, I'm more a fan of the comics (both the traditional and the current Zdarsky series) than the show Riverdale (I'm ace and so is Juggie!), so I wrote this from that perspective, and this story is intended to work for either; however, there is some reference to Jughead's family issues from the show.

Jughead lay on the air mattress in Archie’s room, collecting his thoughts at some ungodly early hour for a Saturday. This was better than being stuck in the school by himself all weekend, he supposed, but he hated imposing on Archie and Fred.

He shouldn’t have even been up this early, but he was hurting. The previous day, the bad cold and ear infection he’d been trying to hide for about a week reached a breaking point, so Archie got Fred to take him to the doctor. That was also an awkward situation, especially the part where Fred paid for his antibiotics for the infection. Dammit, why couldn’t he just not get sick all the time? Not only was it uncomfortable, it was expensive, and now that financial burden was on other people.

However, Jughead didn’t really have time to dwell on this; his thoughts were interrupted by a loud pop, accompanied by a sharp pain, like someone had stuck an ice pick in his left ear. This was followed by a strange crackling sound, and when he brought his hand up to his ear, he felt liquid dripping out.

Fuck. How was he going to deal with this? Trying not to wake Archie, he quickly scanned the room and found a box of tissues. Carefully, he tried to wipe up the clear, blood-tinged fluid, but as soon as he thought it was gone, more of it dripped out. As far as he could tell, it was only coming from the left side; his right ear still hurt, but it wasn’t leaking, at least.

“You okay, Jug?” Archie asked sleepily. Shit, now he was going to find out.

“Uh, yeah” Jughead replied hastily as he threw away the tissues, hoping Archie hadn’t noticed what had been happening.

“Are you sure? You’re not usually up this early,” Archie pointed out. He squinted a bit. “Jug, you’re bleeding or something.” He quickly got up and moved toward Jughead, who tensed up.

“Dad!” Archie called. “Dad, I think Jughead needs to go to the doctor again!”

“Shit, shut up, Archie!” Jughead snapped. “It’s not that big a deal!” He winced as he felt the weird crackling sensation again and more fluid dripped out.

“Jughead, when have you ever seen—“Archie started when Fred came in.

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

“Jughead’s ear is leaking and he’s trying to play it off like it’s a normal thing,” Archie said before Jughead could even get a word in. Jughead looked pissed, but Archie didn’t care. He knew this was a bad sign.

Fred cringed “Come on, guys,” he said. Jughead felt really awkward about this, but after yesterday, he knew better than to try to argue.

* * *

 

“Congratulations, Mr. Jones, you’re the new owner of a perforated eardrum,” the doctor said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“Is he going to be okay?” Archie asked. He thought about what Jughead had said about how he loved his music. It made him sad to think that Jughead’s hearing could be damaged.

“It typically heals in a few weeks,” the doctor explained. “Make sure not to let any water get in it until then, and while it’s still draining, I suggest lying with it facing down as much as possible. Since your other ear is still pretty inflamed, I’m going to prescribe some pain medication to help with that. It might make you sleepy, but resting a lot will just help you heal faster.”

Great, Jughead thought. Now Fred is going to have to spend even more money.

Sensing that Jughead was worried, Fred patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it,” he reassured him. “To me, it’s no different than if it were Archie.” Jughead didn’t really have any other choice but to accept that answer, even though he still felt bad about it.

* * *

 

Back at the house, Jughead sat on the air mattress, yawning. He’d already taken his first dose of the pain medicine, and just like the doctor said, it, combined with how early he had woken up, was making him feel like he needed a nap.

Archie came into the room with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. “This always helped when I had earaches as a little kid,” he explained, putting it on his bed pillow. “Come here, Jug.”

“Uh, Archie, I’m going to take a nap here,” Jughead said, not moving from the air mattress.

“You’ll be more comfortable in a real bed, though,” Archie said. “Don’t worry about getting your ear gunk on my bed; that’s what the towel’s for. You might want to take your hat off, though, so you don’t mess it up.” A smirk played on Jughead’s lips at that.

“Fine, whatever,” Jughead said, snuggling into the blankets on Archie’s bed. Laying his ear on the hot water bottle, he had to admit to himself that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept anywhere this comfortable and warm. It was a nice change.

“I’ll leave you alone to rest, but let me know if you need anything, Jug,” Archie said, tucking him in.

“Sure thing, Arch,” Jughead muttered, smiling as he drifted off to sleep. He didn’t know what the future held, but for now, he was safe at the Andrews house.


End file.
